Ard al-Wahat

Ard al-Wahat was a Saracen city built in Syria during the 11th century. The city's name means "Land of Oases", named for the oases that the city was built upon. Ard al-Wahat grew into a major city with three districts, being divided into the eastern al-Umariya district, the western al-Medina district, and the al-Anfal Military Encampment to the south.

History
Ard al-Wahat's name means "Land of Oases", referring to the small pools of water located within the settlement. It originated as a small town without defenses, but the villagers were immediately put to work building houses near the town center to lead to rapid population growth. The villagers built a sizeable stockade to intern sheep in, and they established a marketplace, a farming community next to a mill, and large rows of houses, and they later headed east and created more farms and houses, lining the houses along the oases.

Soon, several villages would be established to the west, and the settlement would be turned into a city by the construction of stone walls, dividing the city into districts. The al-Umariya District consisted of the eastern half of the city while the al-Medina District consisted of the west; the small al-Anfal Military Encampment was built in a separate district to the south, with a small residential area, mostly for the families of soldiers. The city relied on oases, groves, and cliffs for some of the borders, with the eastern border being marked by several cliffs and a stone wall, and the dividing line between the Umariya and Medina districts being several oases, thickets, and a small stone wall. The city had two mosques, one for each of the two major districts. In addition, a castle was built in the southwest near some military buildings and some farms, forming the "Khalid ibn al-Walid Fort" as a major military area of the al-Medina district. The city would expand as trees were cut down and new buildings constructed, and it grew to have a population of around 15,000 people.

The city's establishment in the 12th century came at a time of war between the Saracens and Crusaders, with the Muslim city of Ard al-Wahat coming into conflict with the Christian Franks. In 1192, the Franks besieged Ard al-Wahat with rams, knights, and some footmen, but the siege was repelled by Ammar Abdullah and his knights and footmen, and the Ayyubids were able to launch a counterattack against the Franks by besieging their city of Omorphochorius. The city was easily destroyed, lacking the same defensive fortifications as the Saracen city, and the Saracens emerged victorious.

The city of Ard al-Wahat would survive for a few more centuries, but in the 1390s the army of Timur invaded Syria and laid siege to the local Arab cities. Ard al-Wahat was among the cities that the Timurids besieged, and its seemingly-impregnable walls fell before the Timurid army in 1400. The Timurids used their siegecraft to destroy the walls, and the city's inhabitants were slaughtered by the Timurids.